John M. Anderson Oral History San Francisco Conservatory of Music Library & Archives San Francisco Conservatory of Music Library & Archives 50 Oak Street San Francisco, CA 94102 Interview conducted April 23, 2015 Kevin McLaughlin, Interviewer San Francisco Conservatory of Music Library & Archives Oral History Project The Conservatory’s Oral History Project has the goal of seeking out and collecting memories of historical significance to the Conservatory through recorded interviews with members of the Conservatory's community, which will then be preserved, transcribed, and made available to the public. Among the narrators will be former administrators, faculty members, trustees, alumni, and family of former Conservatory luminaries. Through this diverse group, we will explore the growth and expansion of the Conservatory, including its departments, organization, finances and curriculum. We will capture personal memories before they are lost, fill in gaps in our understanding of the Conservatory's history, and will uncover how the Conservatory helped to shape San Francisco's musical culture throughout the past century. John Anderson Interview This interview was conducted at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music on April 23, 2015 by Kevin McLaughlin. Kevin McLaughlin Kevin McLaughlin has an M.M. from Yale University, a D.M.A. from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Library and Information Science degree from the University of Washington. Before coming to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in June 2007, he served for five years as the performing arts librarian at the California Institute of the Arts. In addition to his library career, McLaughlin has been active as a trumpet player, having worked professionally in Vienna, Los Angeles and the Twin Cities. He has also hosted a classical radio program for KSER in Seattle. He has served as chair of the Southern California chapter of the Music Library Association, and in 2009 he hosted the annual meeting for the MLA Northern California chapter. Use and Permissions This manuscript is made available for research purposes. All literary rights to the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved for the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the Conservatory’s Archivist or Library Director. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to: San Francisco Conservatory of Music Library & Archives 50 Oak Street San Francisco, CA 94102 San Francisco Conservatory of Music / John M. Anderson Oral History 1 John M. Anderson John M. Anderson was born in San Francisco, raised in Beverly Hills, graduated with a B.A. in Philosophy from Pomona College, and with a J.D. from the law school at U.C. Berkeley (Boalt Hall). After graduating from law school, he first worked for the San Francisco Chronicle as a copy boy and feature writer; later as the news editor of the English-language newspaper in Geneva, Switzerland; and then as Administrative Assistant to the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee during the 1964 Presidential Campaign between Lyndon Johnson and Barry Goldwater. In 1965 he began law practice in San Francisco, first with Johnson & Stanton, then as an associate and partner with Landels Ripley & Diamond, later as Special Counsel with Heller Ehrman, and now with Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass. John has tried 45 jury cases and argued on three occasions to the Supreme Court of the United States. In 1986 he was elected a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. More recently he has been recognized as one of America's leading counsel to the advertising community. In a 2000 profile, Los Angeles' principal legal journal described John as a consigliere to his many clients in the U.S. and abroad. His counsel has included ad agency strategy, acquisition opportunities, and, most notably, merger and sale transactions. Over the years, his clients have included a wide range of advertising firms from multinational holding companies and major independent firms to innovative start-up agencies. San Francisco Conservatory of Music / John M. Anderson Oral History 2 He has lectured widely at legal and advertising gatherings, including California's Continuing Education of the Bar, University of California's Hastings College of the Law, the American Association of Advertising Agencies, and The Clio Awards. In addition to his service as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, John has served on the Board of Trustees for the University of California Press Foundation, where he was president from 2001 to 2004; as a Trustee of the Sausalito Art Festival Foundation; and as a counsel to the San Francisco Ballet. John is an amateur scholar on the life and works of Hector Berlioz. He was an original member of what is now The Berlioz Society, and has written and lectured on France's great 19th Century composer. John and his wife of 54 years, Jola Anderson, have lived most of their married life in one the oldest houses in Sausalito. They have had two children, a daughter, Erika Anderson-Embley of Sonoma California, and Edward M. Anderson (1966 – 2013). San Francisco Conservatory of Music / John M. Anderson Oral History 3 McLAUGHLIN This is Kevin McLaughlin. Today is April 23rd, 2015, and I have the real pleasure of speaking with John Anderson, who joined the Board of Trustees for the Conservatory in 1978, I believe, and was Board president from 1987 to 1990. And so I thought we would start out by talking a little bit about your relationship to the Board – when did you first come to join it, and how would you describe the area back in the ‘70s? ANDERSON Well, I first began to learn about the Conservatory through my wife, who was teaching dance at Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley. She herself is a former dancer. She trained as a ballet dancer, danced as a modern dancer, and danced with Merce Cunningham and Eugene Loring, and so forth. While I was starting to practice law, she was teaching at Tamalpais High School in what was then the gym – athletic department – but they had this dance program that she was in charge of. One of the students in the class was a woman named Karen Salkind, who was the daughter of Milton Salkind. They became acquainted through their teaching and student relationship, and she said, “You should really get to know the Music Conservatory in San Francisco.” There was some introduction – I’m a little vague – but it was something that I wanted to do, because I wanted to have some way to … I started to say exploit, which is not quite the word … but I wanted some way to find an outlet, if you will, for my interest in music. McLAUGHLIN Do you remember what year that was? ANDERSON That would have been about two years before I became a member of the Board; about 1976. Specifically, I proposed to someone (it was probably Milton Salkind) that they ought to have a low-cost support group. So we started a thing called “Friends of the Conservatory.” I say “we” because my wife volunteered and did a lot of early clerical work, and mailings of solicitations, and so forth. The idea was that if you contributed $25 a year, you would be entitled to certain benefits, which probably included things like being admitted to the free concerts. McLAUGHLIN Were they charging back then? ANDERSON No, they weren’t. And then we had what in retrospect was a very cheesy idea, which was we signed up a bunch of merchants, mostly around the music school, who would give people who belonged to the Friends of the Conservatory a 10% discount to things like auto repairs, or shoe repair. In retrospect it’s kind of embarrassing because I don’t think this is how Juilliard raises money, but anyway, that’s how I became involved. And so at some point Milton asked me if I would be interested in joining the Board. I think there was one other lawyer on the Board, but the idea was that I would have some sort of professional experience to offer. So I joined the Board, and found a very nice outlet for my interest in music. San Francisco Conservatory of Music / John M. Anderson Oral History 4 McLAUGHLIN Do you remember what it was like back then at the Conservatory and in the area? ANDERSON Well, of course in retrospect it was a very, very small, local music school. I’d like to say that I knew and understood that it was a very small, local music school. But to me, I thought the three great music schools were Juilliard, Curtis, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. It was just the idea of being around musicians … for example, I had a modest friendship with Paul Hersh and Mack McCray, and I was just tickled to be involved in that. McLAUGHLIN And you’re still here, you’re still around. What were the major responsibilities of Board members when you joined, and how have those changed? ANDERSON Well, obviously the main one was to get financial support for the school. And it was to get financial support so that they could provide more scholarships. It was not raising money to build a building, or to do anything grand. It was to pay faculty members – recruit faculty members – and provide scholarships. That was the primary function. The secondary function was to gain community interest in and support for the Music Conservatory; because the Conservatory then was some music school out on 19th Avenue. It did not enjoy a lot of support or attention from the musical community in San Francisco.